xvii, 684 pages : 24 cm

"On Food and Cooking is a unique blend of culinary lore and scientific explanation that examines food -- its history, its make-up, and its behavior when we cook it, cool it, dice it, age it, or otherwise prepare it for eating. Generously spiced with historical and literary anecdote, it covers all the major food categories, from meat and potatoes to sauce béarnaise and champagne. Easy-to-understand scientific explanations throw light on such mysteries as why you can whip cream but not milk what makes white meat white whether searing really seals in flavor how to tell stale eggs from fresh why "fruits" ripen and "vegetables" don't how to save a sauce what hops do and what happens when you knead dough. A chapter on nutrition reveals that Americans have been obsessed with their diet since the 1800s and exposes the fallacies behind food fads past and present. There's a section on additives -- a not-so-new addition to food -- and taste and smell, our two pleasure-giving versions of the oldest sense on earth. With more than 200 illustrations, including extraordinary photographs of food taken through the electron microscope, this book will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food"--Publisher description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 638-652) and index

Introduction: Cooking and Science -- Foods -- Milk and Dairy Products -- The Nature of Milk -- Unfermented Dairy Products -- Fermented Dairy Products -- Cheese -- Eggs -- The Chicken and the Egg -- The Composition of Eggs -- Egg Cookery -- Egg Foams -- Meat -- Meat in the Human Diet -- The Structure and Qualities of Meat -- Slaughter, Aging, and Storage -- Meat Cookery -- Fruits and Vegetables, Herbs and Spices -- Plants as Food -- The Nature of Plants -- The Composition and Qualities of Plants -- Spoilage and Storage -- Cooking Fruits and Vegetables -- Notes on Individual Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs and Spices -- Fruits -- Vegetables -- Herbs and Spices -- Tea and Coffee -- Grains, Legumes, and Nuts -- Seeds as Food -- The Grains -- Legumes -- Nuts -- Bread, Doughs, and Batters -- The Origins and History of Bread -- Flour -- The Ingredients in Doughs and Batters -- Bread -- Other Dough Products -- Batters -- Sauces -- The Development of Sauces -- Starch-Thickened Sauces -- Emulsified Sauces -- Sugars, Chocolate, and Confectionery -- The Appeal of Sweetness -- Honey -- Maple Syrup -- Sugar -- Corn Syrup and Fructose -- Chocolate -- Confectionery -- Sugar and Tooth Decay -- Wine, Beer, and Distilled Liquors -- The History of Alcohol -- The Nature of Fermentation -- Wine -- Appreciating Wine -- Beer -- Distilled Liquors -- Drunkenness and Hangovers -- Food Additives -- Additives in "The Good Old Days" -- The Rise of Chemical Additives -- The Trouble with Additives -- Informed Choice -- Food and the Body -- Nutrition: American Fads, Intricate Facts -- Nutritional Fads in the United States -- The Elements of Nutrition -- Digestion and Sensation -- The Nature of Digestion -- Hunger and Thirst -- Taste and Smell -- The Principles of Cooking: A Summary -- The Four Basic Food Molecules -- Water -- Carbohydrates -- Proteins -- Fats and Oils -- Cooking Methods and Utensil Materials -- Browning Reactions and Flavor -- Cooking Methods -- Utensil Materials -- A Chemistry Primer: Atoms, Molecules, Energy -- Atoms and Molecules -- Energy -- The Phases of Matter

IACP Crystal Whisk Award 2005; James Beard Foundation KitchenAid Book Award 2011

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